“The Faith Rest Life of Abiding”

“Abiding In Christ”

Title: “Abiding” Part 1

Text: John 15:1–5 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Introduction: This morning, I would very much like to call your attention to the reality, that wherever there is a need, be it sinner or saint, begins with the Ministry of the Spirit of God. ALWAYS! God must initiate. In the Beginning God: (Genesis 1:1) Listen Beloved: “The Christian Life is an Experience of Multiplied New Beginnings.” And, those New Beginnings Always Begin with the Moving of the Spirit of God. He Reveals His Truth through His Word that will meet our needs. And, when He moves the next step of course, Is Light. We See! He Reveals that which is concealed from the Natural Man. (Consider 1 Corinthians 2:11-16). The Apostle Paul Prayed a Great Prayer in Ephesians 1 that the Eyes of their Heart would be Enlightened. Why? That they might Know: And, that is God’s Order. The Moving of the Spirit, the Seeing, the Light, the Knowledge. And, that is God’s Order. He doesn’t have another order. If He did the Apostle Paul wouldn’t pray that prayer. Listen: Our Growth in the Grace and Knowledge of Jesus Christ is TOTALLY DEPENDENT upon our RESPONSE to The Spirit of God. He (The Spirit of God) is our Teacher. HE ALONE IS OUR TEACHER! Our Lord said, “He shall Teach you All Things.” (John 14:26). (Consider Ephesians 4:11-16). He gives some men the gift of teaching. But, the Gift is not Enough. The Gift must be Empowered by the Spirit of God. We must have the Word and the Spirit Always together. We not not separate them; because it’s His Word. It’s a Living Word. It’s not a dead word. Now, if a dead man preaches that word, it is a dead word, unless God, by a Sovereign Act of His Grace sees fit to use it. But, that’s exceptional. Now, I want to be clear as to how we are going to be taught.

1. We are going to be Taught by the Spirit of God. (1 John 2:20, 24, 27).

2. We are going to Sit at the Feet of Our Lord Jesus. (Luke 10:38-42; John 12:1-8).

3. And, we are going to Trust the Spirit of God. (John 16:7-15).

Notice three Key Words on our Subject in 1 John:

Abideth or Abide: (1 John 2:6, 10, 14, 17, 24, 27, 28; 3:6, 14, 15, 24).

2. Dwellers or Dwell: (1 John 3:17, 24; 4:12, 13, 14, 16).

3. Overcomes or Overcome: (1 John 4:4; 5:4, 5).

Now, I’m going to give you all three more things that must Ever be Before You.

Unceasing Dependence on the Holy Spirit. ALWAYS #1 Your Teacher, Your Guide, Your Remembrancer.

He wants to be to you All that Jesus was to His Disciples! I wonder if you know Him. Do you know when He Speaks? Do you know what He Says? Are you led by the Spirit of God? (Romans 8:14). “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:16, 25). The tragedy of the Church is that it does not Know the Spirit of God! Very few in the Church Know the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Well, let’s Trust the Holy Spirit to Bring us into that Conscience Fellowship. As your Teacher you will Learn to Depend Upon Him. Listen Carefully: Don’t Ever Look to a man, but Look and Listen for the Spirit of God in that man. He may only speak One Word, but if that Word is Quickened by the Holy Spirit, it can change someone’s Entire Course of Life. It is God Who does the Work. Listen to what the Apostle Paul said to the Church at Corinth: “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus sake. For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the Power may be of God, and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 5-7). Secondly:

2. Looking Unto Jesus. (Hebrews 12:1-2).

3. Life By Faith in the Son of God and In Him Alone. “Personal Trust in the Person of Jesus Christ.”

Again, 1. Unceasing Dependence Upon The Holy Spirit. This is Basic to Everything! 2. Looking Unto Jesus. Not to Yourselves; Not to Others as you Run the Race. 3. Living by Faith in the Son of God IN YOU! The Ever-Present Indwelling Christ Living in You!

Bearing Fruit Glorifies God. And, Abiding is not a way to Bear Fruit, it’s the Only Way. There is NO OTHER WAY! The Only Way we can Bear Fruit is Abiding In Christ. There is no alternative to this; there’s no Second Way.

“As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the Vine; no more can ye, except ye Abide In Me.” (John 15:4b). Listen closely: “I Am the Vine, ye are the branches: He that Abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much Fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

What is Christ saying to us here? I am not Capable of Anything Apart from Him!

Do you know why people do not bear fruit? Why? Because they think that they can bear fruit.

It’s the Lord in us Who Bears the Fruit through us. He Does It!

“Without Me ye can do Nothing!” Do you realize that you NEVER IMPROVE!

The Christian Life is the Christ-Life In You! It’s not Your Life Improved, it’s a New Life, A Person!

Christianity Is Christ In You the Hope of Glory! Now, this the Great Truth that you have to Trust the Holy Spirit to Make Real To You.

Without Him I can’t do Nothing. Therefore, the branch cannot bear fruit. It can make NO CONTRIBUTION to the Life of the Vine. It doesn’t Contribute a thing. All it does is Take. All it does is Draw. All it does is Appropriate what is in The Vine. And, it bears fruit. Once it stops doing that it will die.

What is the Rich Truth that we Learn here? Abiding In Christ divorces me from myself completely. All of my self-effort, my struggle to bear fruit on my own. Abiding Centers me on the Person of Christ. And, it’s going to force me to Trust the Spirit of God to lead me, because there’s no other way. “Without Me ye can do nothing.”

Now, let’s carefully read from verses 6-17 in this Great Passage. Following, we are going to point out the Results of Abiding. Each of these Results are clearly seen if we will slow down and Allow the Holy Spirit to Reveal them to us.

Notice these Results:

There Will be Much Fruit and in this God Will Be Glorified.

The Fruit will Remain. There will be No Passing Effort. In other words, God’s Criteria Will Be Met.

We Shall Be Disciples Indeed. That is, True Learner’s and Followers.

Our Prayers Will Be Answered. And, we shall have Great Liberty in Asking what we will.

Our Lord Will Have Joy In Us Still.

Our Joy Will Be Full. (Psalm 16:11).

God’s Love Will Dwell In Us. (1John 4:16).

We Shall Not Sin. (1 John 3:6). “Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him.”

We Shall Walk In The Light. (1 John 1:7).

We Shall Have Confidence when Our Lord Returns. (1 John 2:28). “And now, little children, Abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His Coming.”

Now, let’s consider TWO DEFINITIONS of Abiding:

Fredrick Godet Defines Abiding as: “The Continuous Act of Faith, whereby we derive All from Christ, by the Inward aspiration or inspiration of Faith.”

Someone else Defined Abiding like this: “The Disciple must Set his life in Christ and Let Christ Live in him.” All we have to do is simply let Christ Live His Life in us.

How do we let Christ live in us? Both men here are emphasizing Faith. Because there is no way that I can let Christ live in me apart from Faith.

The first thing we must do is: Stop seeking from any other source, but Christ.

Secondly, We must shut ourselves up to Faith In Him. Make sure that All Other Doors are closed with No Exit Signs Above Them. Remember, we are closed in with Him and Him Alone! He Dwells Before and Behind ALL THE DOORS in our lives. The Believer has no Secret Chambers which Excludes Christ in his or her life.

If God is going to use us to any degree in this world, we must have a True Estimation of ourselves.

For Example, do you want to know why God used the Apostle Paul to such a Great Measure? Paul had a True Estimation of Paul. Listen to what he said concerning himself:

“For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.” (1 Corinthians 15:9).

“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this Grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;” (Ephesians 3:8).

“This is a Faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (1 Timothy 1:15).

It was Augustine who said: The first Great Grace is Humility, the Second Great Grace is Humility, and the Third Great Grace is Humility.

“You are not going to live by Faith in the Son of God until you cease to live by Faith in yourself!” This is where Humility comes in. Only the lowly man, who knows his nothingness and helplessness, is the man who is going to live by Faith. This is the man who is going to go to the Lord with Everything.

Only the Word that the Holy Spirit Speaks through me can meet the other person’s need. In other words, Only God Can Do the Work of God. It’s the Living Christ, by His Spirit, through the man. There are not two Sources. I am In Christ, therefore, His Life is my life. He Is My Life!

Christ Is In Us.

2. Christ Is Our Life.

Here is where we Trust Him to Live His Life through us and Meet the Present Need. We are ONE WITH CHRIST!

One is a life of hope. Well, I hope the Lord will do something.

The other is a Life of Faith. The Victorious Lord will Triumph.

Jesus Christ is Victor in this Situation in me. Without Him, I can do nothing!

Now, the Breaking Down of Spirit, Soul, and Body.

The Spirit:

The Function of Conscience in Man’s Spirit.

2. The Function of Intuition in Man’s Spirit

3. The Function of Communion in Man’s Spirit

This morning we are going to Magnify Christs’ Glorious Sufficiency. John records seven Great “I AM” statements here in His Gospel.

Notice these declarations:

“I AM the Bread of Life” (John 6:35).

”I AM the Light of the World” (John 8:12; 9:5).

“I AM the the Door” (John 10:7, 9).

“I AM the Good Shepherd (John 10:11’14).

I AM the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25).

“I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).

“I AM the the True Vine” (John 15:1, 5).

Let us consider this Morning “The Glory of Christ’s Increase.”

John 3: 30 says: “He Must Increase, but I Must Decrease.”

I. Our Association With Christ.

A. A Special Association. “He Is the Vine and we are the Branches.” (John 15:1, 5).

In the Epistle to the Ephesians we are set forth as:

1. The Stones Built Upon Christ, the Chief Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20-22).

2. We are the Body Functioning Under Christ, the Head (Ephesians 4:15, 16).

3. We are the Bride Joined to Christ, the Bridegroom (Ephesians 5:25-27).

B. A Vital Association. (John 15: 2, 4, 5). (Refs. John 3:36).

C. A Personal Association. (John 15:2-3).

II. Our Abiding In Christ.

A. Abiding Involves Cooperation (John 15:5-6).

B. Abiding Includes Communion (John 15:7). Prayer/Fellowship. Abideth:

Turn with me to 1 John 2:6, 10, 14, 17, 24, 27, 28: 1 John 3:6, 14, 15, 24 and 2 John 1:9.

C. Abiding Inspires Commitment (John 15:8-27). Dwelleth: 1 John 3:17, 24: 1 John 4:12-16; 2 John 1:2.

Last of all this Morning: Overcometh: 1 John 4:4: 1 John 5:4, 5.

We Shallconclude this series next week Lord Willing!!!